Zambia beat Botswana to win COSAFA U17 Girls title

The Copper Princesses of Zambia are the champions of the COSAFA U17 Girls championship.

Zambia thrashed Botswana 4-0 in the one-sided final played on Monday at the Setsotso Stadium in Maseru, Lesotho.

The Copper Princesses got off to superb first half lead as Jessy Zulu and Lucy Kajiya in the 13th and 39th minutes respectively gave the Zambians a fine 2-0 lead in the opening period.

Kaluba Kangwa's lads continued from where they left in the second half against the Zebra's as captain Pumulo Lubasi and Gracious Tailoshi found the back of the net in the 69th and 71st minutes to seal the convincing title triumph.

The final victory saw the Princesses complete a double over the girls from Botswana after an initial 3-1 opening win in the tournament. Besides emerging champions, the Zambians ended the tournament unbeaten in three matches, including against Namibia on their road the final.

Kangwa's side now becomes the first COSAFA team to win the regional women's age-grade tournament, following Uganda and Tanzania successes as guests in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

For individual accolades, Kajiya of Zambia finished as top scorer with three goals, as her compatriot Chitete Munsaka won the Golden Glove as the best goalkeeper, having conceded just one goal.

Zambia captain Lubasi was named the Player of the Tournament, an award which also earned her a week long travel experience to Spain to see a top-flight match courtesy of LaLiga, while the team's Fair Play award went to Botswana.